About the Program

The Collaborative Special Education Law and Process Certificate prepares individuals to meet the unique learning needs of students with disabilities, through legally mandated school, home and community collaboration. Meeting the needs of children with disabilities through school-parent-community collaboration is the goal of educational policy in the United States.

A program goal is to more fully develop highly qualified special education teachers and administrators in schools and the community while offering special education collaborative knowledge and practical skills training to parents and advocates, whose cooperative partnership is imperative to support the provisions for the successful learning of all students as incorporated and mandated in NCLB and the IDEA 2004.

Achieving the program goal and objectives requires collaborative educators, advocates and service providers committed to meeting the learning needs of all students with disabilities. The Collaborative Special Education Law and Process Certificate will benefit participants by providing them with the specialized training necessary to be collaborative partners in the complex process of implementing federal and state mandates to appropriately educate students with disabilities.

Admission Requirements

Applicants for the program follow the University standards for admissions to graduate study, i.e., possess an earned bachelor's degree from an accredited institution; an earned undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher (graduate degree GPA, if applicable, will be considered along with undergraduate GPA). In addition, the candidate will submit for consideration a completed graduate school application with official transcripts from all colleges or universities attended, two letters of recommendation and personal essay.

Writing-intensive Requirements

In order to graduate, all students must pass three writing-intensive courses after their freshman year. Two writing-intensive courses must be in a student's major. The third can be in any discipline. Students are advised to take one writing-intensive class each year, beginning with the sophomore year, and to avoid “clustering” these courses near the end of their matriculation. Transfer students need to meet with an academic advisor to review the number of writing-intensive courses required to graduate.

For additional information, and an up-to-date list of the writing-intensive courses being offered, students should check the Drexel University Writing Center page